David Plouffe managed President Obama's 2008 campaign and is now a senior White House adviser, a position he held during the 2012 campaign. / Garrett Hubbard for USA TODAY

by Susan Page, USA TODAY

by Susan Page, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - David Plouffe, the hard-driving strategist who played critical roles in two national campaigns for President Obama, says he's leaving the White House soon.

And in what may be a disappointing note to Democratic hopefuls for 2016 and beyond, he doesn't plan to run another presidential campaign.

"My days in the front lines of politics are probably coming to a close," he said in an interview with USA TODAY for Capital Download, a weekly video series on usatoday.com that launches Thursday. "And what a great way to end it." He says he'll leave his prime office in the West Wing "in the near future."

He spoke as workers were finishing construction of the Inaugural stand just in front of the White House, where Obama, his family and others are expected to watch the Inaugural Parade proceed down Pennsylvania Avenue next Monday.

Plouffe, 45, was a top strategist for Barack Obama's Senate campaign in Illinois in 2004 and the campaign manager for his first presidential bid in 2008. He was a senior adviser based in the White House during the 2012 campaign.

He says his future plans aren't set, beyond spending time with his wife and two children. He might write a second book. His first, The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory, was published in 2009.

"I'll continue to help the president and this administration any way I can from the outside," Plouffe said, saying Obama's second term is "filled with promise."

"If we can get immigration reform done, make more progress on energy (and) make sure health care gets fully and smartly implemented, these are huge things for the country that can make a difference not in just his eight years but for years and decades to come."